Edible Snowflakes

I've done a fair amount of blog surfing lately so I don't remember where I got this idea BUT I did it today and I had to share it.

You will need:
Tortillas
Cinnamon and Sugar
Oil

For my tortillas I buy the fresh, uncooked ones at Costco. If you have never had these you are missing out. Fresh tortillas are wonderful, soft, and melt in your mouth. Perfect for tacos, egg rolls, floutas, chimichangas, etc... If you don't have fresh tortillas you can use the store bought ones. You will need to heat them a bit in the microwave or get them a little wet so that they don't break when you fold them.

Fold your tortilla in half, and in half again. Cut it like you would a paper snowflake with your kitchen scissors. I made triangle cuts on all three sides.

Heat enough oil to cover the bottom of a large skillet. While the oil is getting hot mix your cinnamon and sugar together. Make sure you have everything ready before you put the tortillas in the skillet, they cook lightening fast!

Once the oil is hot, put in a tortilla, flip it, and remove it to a paper towel covered plate. Sprinkle immediately with cinnamon/sugar.

Eat them warm and yummy! They even sparkle like snowflakes. Mine didn't last around long enough for me to take a picture of them.

Star Wars Tribute... Needs your VOTE

Check out this video performance of a Star Wars Tribute by an acapella group called Moosebutter. A friend of ours is one of the group members who helped write and sing this song. It's quite a creative song.

After you see the movie and have the song stuck in your head go vote for it for the CBS People's choice award.

1.Go to http://www.pcavote.com/

2. Enter the security code

3. Look at the nominations for 'user generated videos' and pick one (the video's appear in the next set so click "next set")

Enjoy and thanks for voting!

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I need to Clarify: The person in the video is actually lip-singing the song. The actual voices you hear are from the group Moosebutter, one of which used to be in our Ward.

Did you VOTE? you can vote again! EVERYDAY

Deck the Halls

I've also been busy transforming my home with my Christmas decorations. I LOVE Christmas lights all over my living room. Thanks to the boys I have them on all day and I love it! I also have nativity scenes all over of various sizes. I'm a big fan of the Little People nativity. My kids love playing with it. They have new additions to the set availible this year that I have been drooling over (hmm... after Christmas sales, maybe). I've also been busy making stuff for family and friends with more to be made, I hope I get it all done. Maybe I'll actually finish my Christmas stockings this year. Here are some pictures I took today using the candlelight mode on my camera and descriptions of some of my decorations. I love the way the camera mode captures the "mood" of the Christmas lights.

I have a collection of Christmas books that I get out every year and add to most every year. I wrap them up and the boys get to open a book (this year one each) every day and we read them before bedtime. I have them tucked under my large buffet with icicle lights amungst them. I also have my big ceramic nativity lanterns on either side with some lights tucked in them.

I have many of my nativities on a tall black shelf. The lower shelves have nativities for the children to play with including the Little People one. The Christmas plates are from a yearly series, one from the year I was born and one from the year Daniel was born.

We finally decorated our tree last night. It has been up for about a week without anthing on it but lights. The picture is what the result was with the kids doing a majority of the ornaments. I have yet to move any of them around, and I'm not sure I even will.

Christ is the reason for the season and my Christus statue is displayed near the front door. It is because He lives that we have reason to celebrate His birth.

I'm very fond of my Willow Tree nativity and it sits front and center on top of my buffet.

MIA... playing catch up

It has been a long while since I have really posted to this blog. A lot of my time has been sucked up with the Christ Centered Christmas blog. If you haven't checked it out recently, I will say you are missing out. My mom and I are adding new stuff regularly and thanks to sugardoodle and my new button the word is getting out there. I'm very excited about it! There are also new recipes up on Everyday Recipes including a really yummy recipe for Strawberry Cream Puffs.

Thanksgiving was wonderful other than we were unable to go to Utah and see our families. My dear friend Christina was able to come out, kid free, and we had a grand girls weekend. Thanks Josh for watching the boys! We basically ate and shopped the entire weekend and had a lot of fun. Thanksgiving dinner was made by my amazing husband. Everything turned out so delicious and we timed it pretty well. We had some friends over from our ward and they brought the most wonderful recipe for sweet potatoes with a coconut topping (I'm still working on getting the recipe, I'm not usually a fan of sweet potatoes but these were SO good). We just lounged around the afternoon, looking at Black Friday ads and plotting the next morning. Sam was so tired he fell asleep in the middle of the living room floor amidst all the bussle with his bum in the air. I was worried he would have a hard time going down. We had transfered him to a toddler bed the weekend before and he takes advantage of the new found freedom of being able to leave his room when he is supposed to be sleeping. The poor kid was so tuckered out like the rest of us after such a large Turkey dinner, that my problem was solved.

A couple nights ago the boys decided to sleep together in Elijah's bed. Melt my heart CUTE! Most of the time they just play together and make a mess in their room when they are supposed to be sleeping (Sam did it until 9:30 last night) but there are those rare nights when they are just cute and go to sleep so well.

One of the random things I picked up at Walmart on Black Friday was a Eureka lightweight vacuum cleaner. It was $9 bagless, lightweight, telescoping handle, lime green vacuum so I grabbed it. I love it! Mind you it is not a Dyson (which I also drool over) but it is so light and agile that I can whip it out and get most of the mess off my floor in nothing flat. Another big plus is that my boys love it. Unfortunatly I have yet to have them push it around while it is on, but they are practicing by running it along the floor. The telescopic handle makes it the perfect size for them. Sam is really good at moving the chairs around to get under the table. I'm trying to catch a video of them doing it. I'll post it when I do.

Elijah has been making more labels. The other day he asked me how to spell butterfly. I then found that he had done some other labels by himself and that Sam had gotten in on the action and done one too. I think it's great practice to get Elijah to learn how to control and contain his letters while writing.

We had a really cold day last week. Temps in the teens with powder snow on the ground (and all over my car). We trudged out in it because Elijah need to go to school. When I got home to put Sam down for his nap and took his hat off I had to grab the camera and get a shot of his crazy hair. He was less than pleased with me, but what else are mom's for.

Giveaway WINNER

Sorry I'm a little late doing the drawing and it has been awhile since I have posted anything at all. I had a wonderful Thanksgiving full of eating and shopping. The last few days have been the after vacation low. Yesterday was a crazy day full of Christmas decorations, a disastorous house and Enrichment stress. Today started off with a call to poisen control because Sam smeared diaper rash cream all over his face, ears, and hair getting it into his eyes and possibly eating some of it -oh joy-, but things have settled down enough for me to announce the drawing for the crocheted monkey.

Drum roll....

Elijah assisted me in drawing the number and the winner is Maren!

Send me an email, Maren, with your address and you will soon have a little monkey for one of your darling girls.

I appreciate those of you who commented and I know there were many more who didn't. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families and friends.

The Christmas season is now in full swing! Sugardoodle has put the Christ Centered Christmas blog on her Random 10 list and we have been getting a lot of hits. It's pretty exciting. One of the links on her random 10 is to a photoshop template for a photo book using the Family Proclamation. It's free to download and pretty amazing. I got into a little bit of digital scrapbooking to do the banner for Christ Centered Christmas and was excited to see these templates that all you have to do is add your photos and then print it through one of the many photobook sites online. It would make a great gift, though I'm not sure there is time to get it done before Christmas.